FINAL UPDATE: Thanks to all who participated in the discussion this morning. It was fun!
Mike Barnicle (white man), Willie Geist (white man), and Mika Brzezinski (white woman) understand why the police arrested Gates while Carlos Watson (black man) and Harold Ford (black man) don't think it was necessary. At least Andrea Mitchell has enough sense to realize this is dangerous territory for her to jump into.
I wonder if they were afraid to let Joe on the show today because it was too risky for him to be a part of this.
Birthers coming up soon...or not! Maybe it was only in Willie's Week in Review segment.
UPDATE: Too funny! Mika's friend sent her a text saying she had just lost all of her black friends except her.
Now everyone is backing up from their earlier comments saying they only wanted to wait for the facts.
UPDATE 2: Videotaped interview with Crowley. Uh-oh, Mike is saying that the policeman doesn't know who Gates is (that's right, all he knows is he's black!!)
Mika making it worse. Andrea Mitchell trying to refocus the discussion. Barnicle trying to acknowledge that this should be a wake-up call that racial issues are not behind us. But wait, it's because black people aren't sympathetic to white policeman.
UPDATE 3: Nice to see Harold Ford standing up for something. Andrea says that Obama is not stepping down which is important. This is an important insight into the president.
Question: Is it good to be off the healthcare message at this point?
UPDATE 4: Police Chief from Miami, "Obama didn't voluntarily weigh in. He was asked about it at a press conference!"
Barnicle, "Is there anything more difficult for a police department than a racial issue?" Answer: "Get in front of the issue."
Carlos, "Do the police close ranks?" (Obviously the Morning Joe white guys have!) Police Chief, "That's why it's important for the chief or mayor to take the lead and get in front of the story."
UPDATE 5: America's racism only outdone by North Korea's sexism re: Hillary Clinton. (At least no one on MJ is saying that Obama made the "stupid" comment to overshadow Clinton's trip!)
Dang, had to leave the room and missed Bill Cosby's clip. Anybody know what he said?
UPDATE 6: Mika losing it with Carlos. Dylan bringing a bit of sanity to the show? "We treat black men differently. Seriously." Mika thinks race played no role in this. Oh, jeez. "I'm just a journalist saying this." She's worried about the cop's job.
Dylan is thinking this is about race in America. I like him more every day.
Carlos brings up Ryan Moats. Maybe he's reading the comments here!
UPDATE 7: Mika's going to cry. Chris says Willie's the only one on the show who hasn't been called a racist this morning. Dylan wants a productive conversation to come out of this. We must recognize that black men are treated differently. There are statistics to prove it. MIKA DENIES IT! SHE'S GOT OTHER STATISTICS THAT SAY DIFFERENTLY! And she wonders why her inbox has nasty emails!
UPDATE 8: Oh, lord. Poor Eugene Robinson is coming on. Bless his heart, but he can't make a point to save his life.
I do feel sorry for the policeman. Why can't he just say he made a mistake and apologize? I really think that would move the discussion.
UPDATE 9: HOORAY! Two Republicans talking about healthcare! Where are the Dems? It's the fraud! Barnicle asking if the president is "kidding" him about keeping his doctor. No, Obama just hasn't read the plan. Every plan has to look the same. The Lewin group. Study group. Good for Barnicle. He's asking who funds the Lewin group. Isn't it United Health Care?
UPDATE 10: We must get word to the show that Lewin is owned by United Healthcare. I emailed them but not sure it'll get noticed.
Policeman video back on and now Eugene. Wow! He's great! Calls Mika out for ending the discussion. She is so defensive! Keep it up Eugene!! This was wrong. The policeman should not have let this escalate. Skip is disabled and about 5 foot 5. This wasn't right.
UPDATE 11: At some point shouldn't the white people on the show understand the fact that the show's guests (with the exception of Dylan) are lining up on opposite sides of this and that in itself illustrates there's a problem???
Updates as the show progresses. Sort of like live-blogging!